As a credit union executive, we love to learn about future trends.  Some of the hottest discussed trends today are technology related, such as, data analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and automation.  But, there are some under-the-radar trends taking shape that can create financial resources that will actually fund these hot technology trends.  These trends are not ones most credit union executives spend a whole lot of time learning about, but they have the potential to help an organization strengthen their competitive advantage.  What many leaders don’t know, however, is the secret may reside in their employee benefits strategy.

Most credit unions are mismanaging their employee benefits budget to the tune of about 25% in wasteful spending each year.  For a credit union with 100 employees, that is about $225,000 increased cash flow that can be retained and deployed for more productive initiatives.  Although every CEO and CFO I know wants to be a good steward, when it comes to their employee healthcare spending, they tend to buy into the “Big Lie”, that there is nothing they can do to control the cost.  Health insurance companies and their insurance broker accomplices have been telling the C-Suite this for decades.  The Big Lie is responsible for the most egregious, mass lapse of fiduciary responsibility in the history of American business.

There is one innovative employee benefit advisor that helps guide credit union employers down a path of implementing the latest healthcare trends that systematically destroy the Big Lie.  If you partner with them, they will make you look like a financial hero.  This next generation benefits advisor acts as your fiduciary and consults your team on solutions that will bend the benefits cost curve down, while creating a more robust benefits offering. This may seem like a fantasy because you’ve been told forever that there’s nothing you can do about rising healthcare costs.

Here’s the deal.  Developing a benefits strategy is accomplished very similar to the way you develop your credit union long-term strategic plan, on a much smaller scale.

Almost every day I hear this phrase from a credit union executive, “we like our employee benefits broker.”  And, to that statement I respond, “great, how would you rate them on their success at reducing your healthcare cost year over year?”  That’s where the conversation goes silent for a few seconds.  Most C-Suite executives don’t know how to measure whether their benefits broker is actually helping them offer the most cost-effective healthcare solutions.  The complexity of the healthcare system makes most CEOs and CFOs want to kick the can down to their HR team to manage one of their top three expenses.

Don’t be that leader.  Be the leader that breaks the status quo.